b'National Association of Real Estate BrokersBuilding Black Wealth TourThe racial wealth gap across the United States is stunning. The median wealth forThe impact lingers today because most Black families could not pass white households is $188,200, compared to $24,100 for Black families and $36,100intergenerational wealth from generation to generation, like many white families.for Hispanic households. Whats so discouraging is despite all the talk about equity,In an article, two Harvard Kennedy School faculty, Linda J. Bilmes, a former assistant equality, and a Reckoning on Race during the protests after the murder of Georgesecretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Cornell William Brooks, former Floyd, the wealth gap remains vast, with Blacks unable to significantly move thepresident of the NAACP, wrote about the inequities of the GI Bill:needle in a positive direction.The original GI Bill, signed into law in June 1944, was hailed as a transformative One reason for the substantial wealth gap is the starkly different homeownershipmeasure by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It provided veterans with loan rates for Blacks and whites. In 2022, the rate of homeownership among whiteguarantees for a home mortgage, money for college or vocational school, and people was 74.4%, and for Blacks, it was 45%, a gap of 24.9%. In 1990, before Civilunemployment compensation. The bill helped over 4.3 million veteransmostly Rights legislation and the Fair Housing Act, which made housing discriminationIrish, Italian, Polish, Jewish, and other working-class European immigrantsto buy illegal, there was a 27-point spread between Black and white homeownership. So, ina home.63 years, Black homeownership has not significantly improved.Between 1944 and 1955, GI Bill mortgages accounted for nearly one-third of all What frequently is missed is that homeownership is a driver of wealth, especiallynew U.S. home loans, with a present-day value of $340 billion. Nearly 8 million for Blacks. The equity from owning a home can be used to start a business, pay for aveterans used the education benefits to attend college or vocational school. The bill college education, or enjoy a comfortable retirement. It is the centerpiece of familyenabled them to become doctors, dentists, teachers, engineers, accountants,economic security. and other professionals, as well as to train as electricians, plumbers, builders, and other skilled trades. As they moved to suburbs, these veterans accumulated wealth, The seeds for the disparity in wealth grew from racist public policies and privateboosted the economy, and drove mid-entury American prosperity.practices in the middle of the 20th century.The GI Bill did not explicitly exclude the 1.8 million Black Americans who fought After World War II, government policies led to the most significant expansion of thein World War II and Korea. But in practice, the bills benefits were almost entirely American middle class in the nations history. This resulted from policies like therestricted to whites, making it one of the worst racial injustices of the 20th century.GI Bill, which provided veterans with free college education and inexpensive homeMembers of Congress from Jim Crow states insisted that the law be implemented loans. However, Black veterans were rarely able to take advantage of these policies,at the state level. This enabled southern states (home to 79 percent of returning because of the discriminatory way they were administered. The Federal HousingBlack veterans) to deny GI benefits to Blacks. In Mississippi, for example, a survey Administration (FHA) wouldnt insure home purchases in Black neighborhoods, andof 13 cities revealed that only two out of 3,229 GI Bill home mortgages went to Blacks faced hostility if they tried to move into a white suburb. Black veterans. Moreover, most U.S. cities practiced redlining, in which homes Delaware Three Rivers Area Economic Development Master Plan 183'